2013 automatic Fit with 228,000+ miles, I drive over 100 miles a day and do all recommended services. Twice now my car has misfired while driving on very cold days after I have driven for a few miles, made a turn and start to accelerate - CEL starts flashing, car slows down, and the engine starts shaking/chugging. When I slow down and pull the car over, the CEL stops flashing. I stop and turn off the car for a few minutes, start it again, it drives like nothing happened - although a clicking noise did appear after the first time this happened and hasn't gone away. No codes appearing when scanned. Was already scheduled for Honda service and asked them to check it out, but they couldn't recreate the issue and just re-adjusted the valves for me, no charge. Got oil changed, transmission fluid replaced, engine coolant replaced, tires rotated, wheel alignment. A week later the issue happened again, and I took it back to Honda and after a day and a half of having my car said my spark plugs were a little loose (they were the ones who replaced them in September) and that tightening them should fix the issues, no charge again. Said there's a possibility of needing the engine rebuilt? We take our cars there because we purchased them there and they are good at least about not charging us to diagnose these issues.

I've been reading that this could be due to a bad coil or fuel injector problems...are there any other things I should have checked out?? I did suggest those things to Honda but not sure they took me seriously. I'm hoping it doesn't happen again but if it does it's not going back to Honda, that's for sure lol. I love my little Fit and want to keep her going as long as I can!!

 

It's interesting there was a clicking noise you heard after the first time this happened. Leaking cylander compression from around a loose spark plug can make a similar noise.

It almost sounds like the inherant issue our cars have with spark plugs loosening up for no explainable reason. Originally our spark plugs were installed in the engines and torqued from the factory to I believe about 13 foot lbs. If you do a search on this forum for "loose spark plugs", you'll find a lot of posts on the subject. The newest accepted torque for the plugs is 20 foot lbs. if a spark plug exits it's threaaded hole in the head it can damage the head on it's exit.

Since you're dealing with your local Honda dealer and you have a relationship with them, I'd first familiarize yourself with the problem- by doing your research here on the forum. Then contact them and inquire about what torque setting they used on the new spark plugs and go from there. If they will agree to it, I would have them re-check the tightness of the plugs. If at least one plug is loose, I'd have them re-install new plugs again and increase the torque on them to the new accepted torque for the plugs. Good luck.

 

Almost the exact same thing happened to me a couple of months after getting my '09 Fit. CEL flashing, then car refuses to accelerate, REALLY sucked since the first time it happened I was in an intersection... just got worse over time, happened more often.
Eventually I figured the Spark Plugs and Coils would need replacing, did that and the problem hasn't shown itself since. If the spark plugs were recently replaced, then I am pretty certain that it's the coils that need replacing. I'm not sure if loose spark plugs cause misfires often, as I've read here about that happening very often to Fits, and the most common outcome is decreased MPG, not misfires, though I could be wrong. My recommendation is look into the coils, see if you can get those replaced or at least inspected by the Honda service. Hopefully for no charge.
Best of luck to you for fixing this issue.

 

I got my car back on Monday and so far so good...the clicking noise is gone and no misfires. Did not get to ask what torque setting they used, but thankful they didn't charge me for anything. Really hoping this was the solution! I did add fuel injector cleaner to a full tank of gas today because I haven't done that in quite a while, thought it couldn't hurt. The report from Honda said:

"Diagnosis Check Out - CEL comes on flashing and car slows down, engine will shake. Caused by excessive tapping heard on cold start. Removed valve cover and found cam shaft and rockers to have wear. Checked valve clearance, OK at this time. Checked for loose spark plugs, found all spark plugs to be excessively loose (cause of flashing CEL) Torqued spark plugs and reinstalled all parts. Still some noise from valves, not as loud as before. If customer is not satisfied with noise, cam and rockers will need to be replaced."

My car seems to be running fine now, thank you all for your suggestions!! Happy to have found this Fit community